Towns around Cuence - Day Trip

On April 19, 2013 Ed and I took a day trip with Juan, a local guide, to see a couple of the towns east of Cuenca, known as craft villages.  We were eager to do more exploring.  The drive was as enjoyable as seeing the villages, just beautiful scenery around every turn of the road.  Juan even stopped the car for my photo opportunities.

 

 Our first stop was in the hillside village of San Bartolome.  It is in this village were generations of craftsmen have been making beautiful hand-made guitars.  We stopped at one place to see the quality of their work and Ed just had to try a couple out.  The son of the maker explained the woods used, how they did the inlaid part and how long it took to make one guitar.  I could not believe how much work went into making just one guitar.

The church on the main square of the village and this guitar in front of the church....really tells you about the village & how proud of their guitars

Ed found the guitar that had an easy action and a lovely bass sound and bought it (happy 45th anniversary).  He has now gotten back to his music that he had missed.

We stopped in one home/café for the guys to have a morning cup of coffee.  While we were waiting for the coffee, Juan showed us that lady also raised guinea pigs.  Roasted guinea pig (Cuy) is a treat in Ecuador and Peru.  They're just too darn cute to eat....sorry!

Our next village was more to my liking.  It was Chordeleg and is know for their quality hand-made silver & gold jewelry.  It was a charming small town again with the central park and square.  We started the tour off with a visit to their local museum telling about the jewelry history dating back to Inca times.  In the museum was a giant silver earring and told about how that design came about.  That design was also hanging from all the lampposts. 

We wandered into several jewelry stores to see their works.  In one store I saw a beautiful pendent that I really "needed" to celebrate our 45th anniversary (like Ed's guitar).

We visited one more village (can not remember the name) that had a central market in the square in front of the church.  There I found an orchid plant that I needed for our balcony (still alive).  But, the best part was when we were walking down a side street, we came upon a guy walking his ducks.  He used a long stick to gently tap one to direct them where he wanted them to go. 

We stopped for lunch then visited a place know for their woven wool material for blankets, shawls, and scarfs.  I forgot to take pictures there...

Then, it was time to head back home and just enjoy the beautiful views out the car window.  It had been a good day and we learned more about our adoptive country.